Marin Readers' Forum for Jan. 3

This is the time of the year when we are inundated with hopes and goals for the new year. While most of these are personal, some need to be faced by our population as a whole. Many are idealistic and noble, but some are realistic and more-than-necessary and overdue. Such are the examples cited by Dick Spotswood in his Dec. 30 colum. I would order them a little differently. I think the easiest to attain and therefore the first to accomplish is the elimination of the county supervisors' slush funds. This is $325,000 that can be better spent to the service of the county than currying political favor.

Negative campaigning such as we saw in the Marc Levine/Michael Allen Assembly fight must stop, so that strong, honest advocates from the business community are willing to run for public office. Again outside political influence must be left out of the political process. And indeed, Levine must not forget those of us who put him in office.

With the almost insurmountable task of addressing the pension nightmare, it goes without saying that this is perhaps the biggest challenge we face. Citizens for Sustainable Pension Plans is leading the way to call attention to this tragedy and suggest ways to correct and remedy the problem. We all need to listen to them, beginning with the county supervisors and the county administrator.

Linda Riedel, Novato

Belser an inspiration

The IJ's "Time to Remember" article (Dec. 31) cited Sausalito's Amy Belser as one of the notable Marin citizens who passed away during 2012.

She died way too soon.

I was never as close to the other people mentioned in your article as I was to Amy, so I can't feel their loss as acutely, but if they measured up to Amy's standards, the loss to Marin County has indeed been great. Amy had not only the intellectual and ethical qualities that one hopes for in our political leaders, but she possessed an ability to maintain the personal admiration of those who may have differed with her.

Chuck Donald, Sausalito

Gun behavior is crucial

In this country, since gun ownership is a right and an intrinsic part of our culture, children should be taught appropriate gun behavior from a very early age.

In the 1940s and 1950s I grew up around pretend rifles and cap guns, real rifles and shotguns. My brothers, friends, and I played "cops and robbers," "cowboys and Indians," explorers, pioneers and soldiers.

My Dad and my brothers used our Connecticut living room to clean their rifles and shotguns, to make their shot bullets. Mom was even her high school rifle marksman champion in Nevada.

From the very beginning we were taught to never, never, ever point a gun at another person. This admonition included our little two-fingered pretend gun (our hands). And, no one could point a gun at us. The punishment was swift and emphatic.

We learned very fast and very young the value of and respect for human life, including our own.

In our games, from the very beginning, we experienced our role in good and bad, right and wrong. We learned about our responsibility in those equations. I am sure we would not have been allowed to play paintball.

During this early time is when family, friends and neighbors can observe the child who is cruel or is a bully. Here is when the parent can jump right in to help address the root cause at that behavior, talking the pediatrician and the school teacher to find out what is going on in their child's life. Neighbors and friends can alert the parent or talk to a professional about a concern.

It is our responsibility to learn about guns and teach appropriate behavior.